Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Post, Philip Sidney

POST, Philip Sidney, soldier, b. in Florida, N. Y., 19 March, 1833; d. in Washington, D. C., 6 Jan., 1895. He was graduated at Union college, and was admitted to the bar. He then travelled through the northwest, his parents having meanwhile removed to Illinois, and took up his abode in Kansas, where he practised his profession, and also established and edited a newspaper. At the opening of the civil war he was chosen 2d lieutenant in the 59th Illinois infantry, and in 1862 he became its colonel. He was severely wounded at the battle of Pea Ridge, and made his way with much suffering, and under many difficulties, to St. Louis. Before fully recovering, he joined his regiment in front of Corinth, Miss., and was assigned to the command of a brigade. From May, 1862, till the close of the war he was constantly at the front. In the Army of the Cumberland, as first organized, he commanded the 1st brigade, 1st division, of the 20th army corps from its formation to its dissolution. He began the battle of Stone River, drove back the enemy several miles, and captured Leetown. During the Atlanta campaign he was transferred to Wood's division of the 4th army corps, and when that general was wounded at Lovejoy's station, Post took charge of the division, and with it opposed the progress of the Confederates toward the north. On 16 Nov., 1864, in a charge on Overton Hill, a grape-shot crushed through his hip, making what was for some days thought to be a mortal wound. On 10 Dec., 1864, he was brevetted brigadier-general of volunteers. After the surrender at Appomattox he was appointed to the command of the western district of Texas, where there was then a concentration of troops on the Mexican border. He remained there until 1866, when the withdrawal of the French from Mexico removed all danger of military complications. He was then earnestly recommended by Gen. George H. Thomas and others, under whom he had served, for the appointment of colonel in the regular army; but he did not wish to remain in the army. In 1866 he was appointed U. S. consul at Vienna, and in 1874 he became consul-general. His official reports have been quoted as authority. In 1878 he tendered his resignation, which, however, was not accepted till the year following. He resided at Galesburg, Ill., and in 1886 and 1894 was elected to congress as a Republican.